What’s odd about this photograph?
No, not the absence of despicable stick-men or laughing locals lolling with picnic hampers on the grass.
We’re talking about the presence of something. Something that doesn’t belong.
None the wiser? Here, have a closer look.
It’s something that isn’t original or integral to a Category A-listed structure like the Melville Monument in St Andrew Square Garden.
Look closer still. Any idea?
That’s it. Well done, you’ve got it. The yellow sniper’s target.
Caught in the cross-hairs
So who are PQS Survey and why are they so attached to our Henry?
It turns out they’re a firm of Leeds-based survey and safety equipment specialists.
Their website explains:
Construction sites can offer some of the most challenging working environments. Site surveyors, engineers and contractors alike, need tools that are robust, reliable and easy to use to get the job done efficiently and precisely.
Whether you are looking for a general Construction Laser to meet all of your job site needs, from layout to grade control, or a Pipe Laser to prepare for building utilities and new road construction or a Total Station to code a survey or stake out building corners remotely – PQS Survey will ensure that you have the right product that not only withstands the toughest surroundings and situations on every possible job site, but crucially delivers to your requirements every time.
Who dunnit?
Spurtle was always pretty sure PQS wouldn't have been responsible for positioning this fluorescent aberration here. Instead we suspected someone who uses PQS's equipment had done so, to line up something else on the straight and true.
But who? We approached City of Edinburgh Council for answers. Yesterday, they confirmed that contractors working on the builiding site opposite, on the south side of St Andrew Square, had attached the target without permission.
A CEC spokesperson describes this as 'an innocent mistake' which should not have happened without prior permission on a Category A-listed structure. Those responsible have now been 'spoken to', and the sticker – attached using a non-damaging adhesive – will be removed at some unspecified point in the future.
So what?
It is admittedly a very small attachment, but we think there's a matter of principle here.
You don't – or you shouldn't – muck about with Edinburgh's A-listed structures without good reason, and certainly not without going through the proper channels.
The fact that somebody did do so – in ignorance of the rules, or because they thought no-one would notice, or because they thought their new construction was so much more important than anyone else's old one nearby – speaks volumes about how Edinburgh's built heritage is currently misunderstood by some and undervalued.
And the fact that anyone was able to get away with attaching this target here – of all places – in broad daylight raises yet more questions about Essential Edinburgh's fitness to manage the Garden.
Meanwhile, we await the result of Enforcement's investigation into Underbelly's apparent failure to reinstate the area to its pre-Christmas condition by the required deadline. Watch this space.
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Got a view? Tell us at
spurtle@hotmail.co.uk and @theSpurtle and Facebook
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Dominic Berry The Melville monument is in a roped-off sea of mud. But I am more cross at the tacky stainless steel bench, which might not be out of place in a high tech architectural setting (an airport, for example) but is wrong in a neoclassical context. It is symbolic of the insensitive way in which the gardens were remodelled, with the result being neither practical (paths that are too narrow, pond with no water) nor historically informed.
@theSpurtle I'm pining for an art installation. When's the next one coming?
@theSpurtle Question is: would our council have bowed to commercial pressure had the developers asked? And were the stickmen just a cover?
Lorraine Moore Grass probably won't grow there now because of the soil being so compacted - don't tell us they are getting artificial grass??!
Broughton Spurtle Too late.
@theSpurtle council staff have been told not to interfere with big developments or festival activities.
@theSpurtle Think you should have just moved it up a couple centimetres. Developers then panic that they've caused subsidence
@theSpurtle If we tolerate stickers on A-listed structures, it'll be internal kitchens & en suite bathrooms next.
Staggerin'JasonClark @jasonclark1967
@theSpurtle I would envisage 'competitively priced student accommodation' is on the cards. How about a wind turbine on the top for too?
@fountainbridge@theSpurtle As well not to tempt them I think - they'd probably respond with a demolition order
@NTCleanStreets @theSpurtle Probably demolish it first then ask for permission. Think they have form for that.
Dominic Berry I wouldn't blame the workmen. The current appearance of the gardens gives the impression that no one cares any longer what happens there. And did have their building to build. I am still much more offended by the stainless steel bench.
Scott Fergusson Was damp stains there before the temporary bars etc built around it?